SSAT Upper Level Reading : Understanding and Evaluating Opinions and Arguments in Argumentative Humanities Passages
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Example Question #1 : Evaluating Argument Reasoning
"Newton's Mistakes" by Daniel Morrison (2014)
Isaac Newton has often been thought of as the greatest thinker in human history. His insight into the role that gravity plays in existence and physics completely changed our collective understanding of the universe and our place in it. He was understood in his own time as a genius. One famous quote by Alexander Pope (himself quite an intelligent man) demonstrates the deep affection felt for Newton: “Nature, and nature’s mysteries, lay bathed in night, God said 'Let there be Newton,’ and all was light.”
Yet, when the famous economist John Kenneth Galbraith purchased Newton’s journals and diaries at auction, he found to his astonishment, and partial dismay, that more than half of Newton’s work was dedicated to the practice of alchemy—the pursuit of turning ordinary materials into precious metals. Our current understanding of science tells us that this is impossible and that Newton was wasting a significant proportion of his time.
Another famous story about Newton tells of his attempts to figure out the effect of direct exposure to sunlight on the human eye. To carry out this experiment he decided to stare at the sun for as long as humanly possible to see what would happen. The effect, as you might have guessed, was that he very nearly went permanently blind and was indeed completely unable to see for two days.
One might determine from these stories that Newton was not the genius we consider him to be—that he was, in fact, a fool; however, it should tell us something about the nature of genius. It is not merely deep intelligence, but the willingness to try new things and the rejection of the fear of failure. Newton was not a genius in spite of his mistakes, but because of them.
Why does the author believe that Newton’s attempts to turn ordinary material into precious metal was a waste of his time?
Because his contributions to mathematics were far more important
Because it is not scientifically possible to do so
Because it had already been achieved by other scientists
Because it distracted Newton from focusing on expanding his theories on gravity
Because it caused Newton to neglect his family and his personal life
Because it is not scientifically possible to do so
When discussing Newton’s attempts to turn ordinary materials into precious metals, the author declares, “Our current understanding of science tells us that this is impossible and that Newton was wasting a significant proportion of his time.” This detail tells you that the author believes Newton was wasting his time because it is not “scientifically possible to do so.” You could say that it “distracted Newton from focusing” elsewhere, but this answer requires a little more inference than the correct answer, which is directly stated.
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